Love Me, Love My Dog
by TigerQueen
Summary: Very slightly AU, in that it explores Kagome's tragic? past...a new take on a not-so-original idea. I apologize for the sap!
1. Part 1 of 4

RATED FOR INUYASHA'S EXTREMELY BAD LANGUAGE (& some insinuations...)

Well, what d'ya know, I actually finished a non-one-shot...

In this fic, Kagome cries, Inuyasha comforts her by telling her that he is desperately in love with her (and that Kikyo is a horrid bitch), makes wild doggy-style love to her and turns her into a hanyou with cat ears and slitted green eyes.  She then runs off with Sesshomaru, adopting both Rin and Shippo as her children.  Miroku, Sango, Kikyo and Naraku come over daily for 16-hour orgies, and my name is Elvis Pressley.  Questions and comments may be sent to the Bermuda Triangle.[i]

In the unlikely situation that I'm not Elvis, what follows is a combination of romance and character study focused eventually on the Kagome-Inuyasha-Kikyo love triangle, but from my own angle.  I'm annoyed that parts of it are clichéd, but...well...isn't Love already a cliché?

IF YOU ARE COMPLETELY UNFAMILIAR WITH JAPANESE, PLEASE CLICK HERE:[ii]  The format's pretty simple – thoughts, memories, a letter & a movie are in italics.  If it doesn't make sense at any point, write me & I'll fix it.

I don't own any of the characters, but I hope I've done them justice and that you'll like it.  I also don't own the title – it comes off a decorative plate of my dad's.

            Thahnkyou, thahnkyouverramuch.

~♥~

**Love Me, Love My Dog**

~♥~****

He stares at the well, the wind slinging his hair carelessly across his face.  His concentration begs for a familiar light, a comforting scent, a cheerful smile...and his wish is granted.  He doesn't move, though his mind whirrs as he waits for her to climb up.  It's been exactly one year...will she remember?

_Of course not._

"Inuyasha!"

She's glowing today – really **glowing**, with her miko aura a happy shimmer of gold faintly accenting her hair.  _Is it because she **has** remembered?_

"Is everyone else back at the village?  Has anything happened while I was gone?"  He turns away.

_Did his ears droop?  "Inuyasha?  Is something wrong?"_

"You're just **full of questions today, aren't you?  Come on, we're wasting time!"  _Stupid bitch.  How exactly like her to forget; her heart's just too damn small_.**

She sighs, her aura dimming slightly, and follows him to her second home.  _I would have thought he'd be different today; I wonder if he realizes that it's been exactly one year since we met.  Probably not – he'd consider such sentimentality a weakness._

~©~

"Kagome!  It's Kagome!  Kagome's back!"

She laughs, gently trying to shake off the excited kit.  "Don't worry, Shippo, I remembered to bring you a treat.  Just let me look through my bag, ok?"

"Really, Shippo, at least wait until Kagome-chan sits down!"  The reprimand loses its strength when Sango laughs at the sight of the energetic fur ball perching on her friend's head.  She is somewhat less forgiving with the hand that fondles her on its way to Kagome.  "Houshi-sama!"

"What on earth?"  All turn to Kagome as she pulls a sleek metal box out of her backpack.  "What's my laptop doing in here?"

"Is this a device from your time?  What does it do?" Kaede-sama asks as she runs her hand over the strange object.

"Hmm?  Oh, yes, it helps me store information and stuff..." she murmurs as she pulls a note off the cover.

_Dear Kagome,_

_I hope that you are enjoying your birthday!  I understand that your friends need you, and that you are eager to celebrate with them, but I'd **also like to wish you a very happy 16th!  I had a feeling that this would happen, as both your friends here and your friends in Feudal **__Japan__ can be...demanding ^_^, so I went ahead and sneaked your laptop into your backpack.  DO NOT LET IT BREAK!!!!!  Or it comes out of your allowance!!!!!  For the next 5 years, if necessary!!!!!_

_You need your laptop because your gift is a home movie which I recently had transferred to DVD.  I don't know if you'll remember it...I certainly do.  Watching it yesterday, when you were through the well, brought back emotions I'd kept buried for quite a few years.  I hope you enjoy it._

_Have a wonderful birthday, sweetheart, and know that I will always be here for you.  Love you to bits and pieces!_

_                                                            Love,_

_                                                                        Mama_

"It's your birthday, Kagome?"  Shippo has apparently forgotten his candy – this is **much** more fun.

"Kagome-sama, you never told us!  We would have planned something!"

"Oh, I didn't want anything planned.  I was just hoping to spend the rest of the day with my friends.  The best birthday present of all will be if the demons stay away, at least until tomorrow!"

_So that's it.  That's why she was so happy.  It's her birthday.  I never knew._

"I wonder what's on the DVD.  Do you guys mind if I play it?"  Kirara tilts her head and blinks.  "Mew?"

"Umm...Kagome-chan...what **is** a 'DVD?'  And what's a 'movie?'"

"You'll see, Sango-chan.  If it's too embarrassing, though, I may turn it off.  I don't have any idea what it is."

Even Inuyasha twists to watch her fiddle with the device.  The others pull back as the screen flickers to life.  "Hey, have you seen this before?" Shippo asks the others as he leans cautiously towards the screen.

"Shut up, brat.  It's just another moving picture thing.  They have them everywhere in Kagome's time.  It isn't important."

_Hmm...Maybe it isn't important to **him, but it's ****my birthday present, and I want to see what it is!**_

"There, that should do it.  Lights!  Camera!  Action!"  They **all stare, and she blushes for an instant before the screen demands everyone's attention. **

~©~

  


* * *

[i] For those of you whom I've just offended – sorry, couldn't resist.  I'm actually making fun of myself, too.  I still love you ~_^

[ii] My apologies to those of you who are used to the dubbed version, but I've only watched "Inuyasha" with subtitles, and I use the honorifics in my writing.  (If you know rudimentary Japanese, just skip this part).  Quick guide:

_Kagome-chan_: affectionate form, used commonly by women with friends – in "Inuyasha," only Sango and Kagome use this form, and only with each other or with Shippo

_Kagome-sama_: formal form – "Lady Kagome" – used in "Inuyasha" only by Miroku (who calls Sango "Sango"...hmm...)

Other words used:

_Bouzu (or buzu or busu, I can't really tell)_: derogatory term for a Buddhist monk – Inuyasha doesn't mince words

_Baba_: derogatory term for an elderly woman ("old hag," although I think it's a shortened form of _Oba-chan_, "Grandmother"...or am I making that up?) – Inuyasha almost never calls Kaede by her name

_Houshi-sama_: "Lord Priest" – what Sango calls Miroku

                _Osuwari: "Sit" – I just can't make her say, "Sit boy!"  It doesn't seem right._

                _Miko: a priestess like Kikyo or Kaede_

                _Shikon no Tama: "Jewel of Four Souls"_


	2. Part 2 of 4

~©~

_A little girl stands in front of the Higurashi home, gaze fixed on something to the right as she laughs.  "Kagome?" a man's voice gently calls.  She spins around, eyes wide, short black curls bouncing.  "Camera's rolling!"_

_She suddenly blushes, staring at the ground while twisting a lock of hair around a chubby finger._

_"Come on, Kagome...say something for the camera!"_

_"_Hai___, Papa..."_

"'Papa?'  Who's 'Papa?'"

"Otou-san..." she whispers without moving her eyes from the screen.

"He's your..."

Inuyasha's hand moves automatically, raising the typical lump on the kit's head.  "Quiet, Shippo!"

"KAGOME!!!"

She doesn't answer.  She doesn't hear.

_"Umm...today I'm 6.  This is for me in many years.  Hello, Me!"  She brightens suddenly, raising her eyes to the camera for an instant before glancing back to her right._

_"And what are we doing, Kagome-chan?"  The screen pans to the right, where her mother crouches.  Her voice is distracted, as she's trying to hold something small and wriggly._

_"Showing Me what I'm like right now!"_

_"That's right!"_

_Kagome's eyes widen a fraction further and she ducks her head slightly.  "Then...can we show her Youkai?"  She laces her fingers behind her back in her best pleading pose._

_Her mother sighs, one corner of her mouth tipping up.  "All right."  She releases the being trapped in her arms._

_A white bundle of fur leaps onto the girl, knocking her over in its excitement.  She just laughs as the puppy licks her face twice, then jumps off, grabbing the edge of her skirt with his teeth._

_"NO, YOUKAI," her mother bites out as she quickly grabs the dog._

_"Aww, Mama!  He just wants to play!"_

_"Well, he has to learn how to play without destroying things!"_

_A deep laugh covers the rest of their argument.  Her mother turns to the camera.  One eyebrow lowers in irritation._

_"Come on, love, he's just a puppy...our boy's going to be much worse."_

_"Don't remind me," she grumbles, rubbing her slightly distended stomach absently as her features soften.  She turns back to Kagome, who is now teasing Youkai's ears.  His eyes narrow, and he nips lightly at her fingers, occasionally touching but never breaking the skin._

_"Kagome?"___

_"Oh, right."  She tries to stand up, but the small dog topples her over again.  She just giggles, twisting her head to face the camera.  "This is my very best friend, Youkai.  Say hello!"_

_White fur wriggles darts back and forth, wriggling out of her arms, racing around her body, chewing her shoes and yapping.  She suddenly jumps up and darts away from the house.  "Come on, boy!"_

_"Kagome?__  Kago...and there she goes."  The deep voice chuckles again, trying to move the camera fast enough to follow the girl and her dog.  "Already a handful..."_

_"Just imagine what he'll be like when he's fully grown.  I can't believe you talked me into getting a dog!"_

_"I was referring to your daughter..."_

_"**My daughter?!"**___

_"Well, I think we know which one of us she takes after."_

_"I certainly do – and I would call her **your daughter."**_

_He laughs again.  "Perhaps..."_

_She smiles in victorious defeat – he has eluded her again._

"He never would give a straight answer.  It used to drive Mama insane."

His eyes and ears swivel to observe her still form.  _You aren't really with us, are you, Kagome?_

Her eyes never leave the screen, but she looks straight through the lit image, down the rabbit hole of old memories. 

~©~


	3. Part 3 of 4

~©~

_"Kagome?__  Are you alright, love?"_

_Cold rain.__  Cold slimy rain.  It pokes through her hair slowly – cold fingers.  Cold fingers on her head, cold fingers on her heart._

_"Come on, punkin.  Let's getcha home."_

_Her Papa is sad.  He eyes look tired.  He smells of tobacco and mothballs.  The mothball smell comes from the museum.  They don't have mothballs there – it just smells like them.  It's a bad smell.  It makes her nose hurt and her eyes water.  The animals in the museum look alive, but they aren't.  They stand in glass cages, all alone.  She likes the tobacco smell.  He smokes a pipe.  He's not allowed to smoke in the museum.  You aren't allowed to touch things in the museum.  You aren't allowed to yell or run around, either._

_You aren't allowed to have a dog for a best friend, either.  Yukari laughed through her nose – a high, ugly sound.  Yukari's best friend is Keiko.  Keiko goes to school, too.  Keiko wears her hair in a thin ponytail.  It looks like a rat's tail.  Keiko nibbles like a rat.  Her teeth clank when she eats.  But she isn't a rat.  Youkai is a dog.  He doesn't laugh through his nose.  He laughs with his mouth wide, a quiet pant.  He swallows his food all at once, and never gets a stomach ache.  But he's not her best friend.  That's wrong._

_"Look who's here, Kagome!  I couldn't keep him at home, he was so eager to see you."_

_He yips at her expectantly, eagerly.  He never understands school.  He wants her to be home with him all the time.  He wants to play all day long.  He doesn't understand responsibility.  That's a word she learned at school.  It means doing what you're supposed to do, even when it's not what you want to do.  She's supposed to have a best friend.  She doesn't have a best friend.  She doesn't play with the other girls.  The teacher called her anti-social.  This means that she eats by herself at lunch.  This means that the other girls laugh at her.  It's all his fault, really.  If it weren't for him, Keiko and Yukari would play dolls with her.  Keiko threw her doll in the dirt.  She said it looked more like a dog toy that way.  She said that girls who play with dogs should play with dog toys.  She said that stupid stinky girls who smell like dogs should play in the dirt.  Stupid dog girls can't be princesses.  Stupid dog girls can't play dolls.  They call her Dog Girl.  They throw her doll and tell her to "fetch."_

_"I HATE YOU!"_

_He whimpers, tilting his head, confused.  She's never yelled at him before.  She likes it.  It hurts, but it's different from being called a Dog Girl.  It burns and builds and thrashes against the walls of her body, the back of her throat.  "I HATE YOU!" she screams._

_"Kagome?__  Hush, Kagome, it won't help...you're hurting him, don't you see?" don't see don't see don't wanna see just leave me ALONE hurt cold ice fingers burning hate you hate you hate you_

_Warm fingers on her cheeks: tears.  Her nose turns gooey and her throat stings.  She hates crying.  Crying makes your nose stuff up and your face sticky.  Soft fur on her cheeks: Youkai.  His warm tongue laps at her tears.  She loves Youkai.  Youkai is soft and warm and will let you cuddle him if you need it.  Youkai is her best friend.  But it's wrong.  She pushes him back.  He whines.  He always whines when he thinks he's done something wrong.  He stole a fish her grandpa sent – not an icky magic fish, but a yummy fish.  Youkai scared away the postman.  He ate the whole fish before anyone knew.  Mama got mad, and Youkai hid under a table.  He whined, but Mama still yelled.  She tried to tell Mama that Youkai was just hungry.  Papa laughed.  Papa always laughs when Mama gets mad.  When Papa gets mad, no one laughs._

_"I know the girls at school have been mean to you.  I've been thinking about it for a while, and I thought...would you like to change schools?"_

_Change schools?  Go away from Keiko with her rattail hair and Yukari with her ugly laugh?_

_"It wouldn't be easy in the middle of a school year, I know, but it would give you a chance at a new start, and..."_

_White fur jumps in front of her.  The car screams.  Everything stops but the car's scream and Youkai's heartbeat against her body and the cold rain and her hot eyes and the soft, sticky fur between her fingers.  And then there's nothing at all._

~©~


	4. Part 4 of 4

~©~

"KAGOME!"

She blinks, her bloodshot eyes slowly focusing on Youkai's worried face.  For one dreamlike moment, she reaches out – then remembers that Youkai's eyes were warm brown, not gold.  For the first time in several years, Youkai dies again.  _I'd finally managed to forget..._

"Kagome?"  Inuyasha's own hand twitches, torn between respecting her space and offering her..._forget it, what kind of comfort can I give her?_  "What is it?"

"It's nothing," she mutters, her voice sticking and breaking in strange ways.

"I didn't know you had a dog, Kagome!  He must be pretty big now!  Can we..."

"Do you **EVER** shut up, brat?  Can't you see she's upset?"

"Oh.  Sorry, Kagome...I didn't notice."

"It's alright, Shippo.  I'm fine."

"No you aren't, Kagome-chan.  What happened?  What memories did that thing bring back?"  Sango tries to embrace her, but Kagome ducks through her arms and heads for the door.  She pauses in the doorway.

"Youkai died not long after that video was made.  He...there...there was an accident, and he died.  I was very young, and I had pretty much blotted the whole thing out.  Remembering him made me...nostalgic, that's all."  She turns, smiling brightly.  "I didn't mean to be so gloomy.  It's not like it matters at this point – he would have been a very old dog by now if he had lived.  And it was a long time ago."

Five worried humanoids and one confused cat study her sudden smile.

"Oh, come on, it's my birthday!  Let's celebrate!"

As the others do their best to shake off their dour expressions, Inuyasha bites the inside of his lip, letting the iron taste of blood fill his mouth. 

~©~

The sound of her crying wakes him some time past the middle of the night.  He never sleeps very deeply.

He pads out of the room he's sharing with Miroku – _just as well, the bouzu's dreaming again.  "Sango, Sango, Saaaaaangooo..." ugh.  It's enough to make me retch.  Dream whatever the hell you want, just don't subject me to it._

He finds her curled against the tree – his tree – with her face hidden in the sleeves of her pajamas.

"'Yo."

"Go away."

"It's my damn tree, bitch."

"Fine."  She gets up blindly and sways toward him.

"What do you think you're doing, Kagome?"

"Finding myself another tree.  Now, if you'll excuse me..."

He closes his eyes and sighs.  Instead of stepping to the side and letting her pass, he grabs her arms and pulls her to his chest.  She stiffens momentarily, but then goes limp, her eyes still half closed and unfocused.

"That isn't what I meant, Kagome.  What do you think you're doing, wandering off unprotected in the middle of the night?"

"'Unprotected,' my butt.  Like you'd ever let your precious shard detector out of your sight."

_She sounds so broken, somehow.  I never thought I'd **want Kagome to do her vicious harpy routine, but this is so very...wrong.  **__What the hell am I supposed to say?_

His internal monologue hiccoughs suddenly as he feels her hands crawl up his chest to clutch the fabric of his clothes a few inches below his collarbone.  She clings to him, resting her forehead on his shoulder as tears drip down her face.  He wraps his arms around her, gently rubbing her back as he tries to think of something – anything – that will make her stop crying.  _Women are impossible_.

She draws in a ragged breath, as though about to speak again.  He stills himself, focusing every sense on Kagome.

"Why are dogs so goddamned stupid?"

_Oh-kay, women aren't just impossible; they were designed with the sole purpose of driving men **crazy**.  And she's about to talk again...wonder what I did wrong this time..._

"He died because of me, you know."

_Err...wait...who?  Oh.  "You mean your dog?"_

"And I was so mean to him.  Why'd he have to be so stupid?"

"I'm not really following you, Kagome.  Why don't you start at the beginning?"

She doesn't reply, and he worries that he's pushed her too far.  Resolving to just shut up, he carries her up to his favorite branch of the tree.  As he settles in with her body draped sideways, she finally starts speaking again, oblivious to any change in surroundings.

"They used to call me Dog Girl.  Young girls can be horrid, you know.  Anyone who tells you that little kids are sweet and cute and 'just so non-judgmental' has obviously never been a child.  They're the most judgmental of all.  Their understanding of the world is confined to their own feelings and experiences.  Anyone who thinks or acts differently from themselves is an outcast, a pariah, a 'weirdo.'"  She pauses to control her breathing.

"In this net of allies and enemies, of conformity and abnormality, I made the tactical error of being unusual.  The very first day of school, we were supposed to tell the class something about ourselves – families, hobbies, best friends and the like – so I told them about my best friend.  His name was Youkai, and he had soft white ears.  The teacher asked me about any _human friends, but I didn't have any.  Growing up at the shrine meant that I didn't have a lot of contact with other kids my age."  Another pause._

"But they – the girls – Yukari and Keiko – they thought this was the funniest thing in the whole world.  They called me Dog Girl.  I said that already, didn't I?  My mother told me to try and stick it out, that they would tire of the game eventually if I didn't give up.  But it continued for weeks.  They'd rub dirt in my hair and on my toys.  The teacher would smile and say that they were 'just playing.'

"I finally got fed up with it all.  Yukari threw my doll in the mud and told me to 'fetch.'  I retrieved the doll – it was my favorite, a princess with red hair – but Yukari tried to grab it again, I hit her.  I didn't try to make a fist; I just hit her in the face with all the strength I had.  My nails even drew blood.  She screamed for the teacher, but I kept hitting her.  By the time the teacher pulled me away, my arms were tired.

"They called my father and sent me home.  He didn't yell at me; he didn't even talk about what had happened.  He did yell at the teacher, though.  I could hear it through the door.  He was always so protective of me...and so kind.  He brought Youkai with him.  He thought that seeing my best friend would cheer me up.  Instead, I was so angry – still filled with such rage – that I yelled at him.  I yelled at Youkai.  I blamed him for everything: for Yukari and Keiko, for my own blinding hatred, for the damage I'd inflicted on other people, for the blood I'd spilled.  I...I told him I hated him.  Oh God, I told him I hated him."  She falls apart again, sobbing in Inuyasha's arms.

Inuyasha scrambles for something to say, but all he can see in his mind's eye is the repeating image of a group of noblemen turning their backs on the "hanyou."  _"You want to play, do you? Fetch, you stupid mongrel."  "Oh, my poor son.  If your father could see you now..."_

"He knew you didn't mean it," he finally whispers.  "He knew you didn't really hate him.  Sure, your anger makes demons cower in fear," he laughs feebly, "but you're never mad for very long."

"He died."

"What?"

"That day, when Papa took me home early, there was...he...he died."

"How, Kagome?" he prods cautiously.

"We were in a car – you know, one of those big metal moving things.  Another car crossed over the middle, coming right for us.  It happened so quickly, Papa didn't have time to move.  I didn't even see it – I didn't find out what happened until later.  But Youkai did.  He knew that something was wrong.  He...he jumped into my lap.  When the cars collided, the windshield shattered and metal bars bent and broke and crushed him.  When they cut me out of the car, my leg was broken and there were small cuts on my face and scalp, but I was ok.  Youkai was...he wouldn't move, and there was so much blood...everywhere, so much blood..."

"It wasn't your fault, Kagome," he murmurs as he rocks her slowly.  "He succeeded in protecting you.  That's all that matters.  His spirit is at peace, knowing that you survived."

"But that's so **stupid**.  The last thing I ever said to him was, "I hate you."  Why should he die for me?  Why should he die and I live?  He was always so faithful to me, and I turned on him."

Sigh.  "That's just the way dogs are.  Total devotion to a single person comes easy to...them."

"But I didn't **want** him to die!  He left me!  What kind of devotion is that?  He left me alone.  I was **ALONE!"**

He stares down into her bloodshot eyes, wondering if he should ask – knowing that he has to.  "Kagome?  What happened to your father?"

Her blotchy face goes white, and he's suddenly reminded of Kikyo.  "He's...gone.  He went away," she says without tone or emotion.

"That day?"

She nods once.

"And you were alone."

"Yes."

He squeezes her, maybe a little too tightly, and rests his cheek against her head.  "I thought you once told me I wasn't alone anymore.  That sort of thing goes both ways, Kagome."  She blinks as some color returns to her face.  He smiles into her hair as the scent of her fear lessons, and tries to keep his voice soft.  "You've got so many people who care about you – Sango, the baba, the brat, the bouzu...the wolf, though I'll fucking kill him if he breathes on you..."

She either laughs or chokes...it's kind of hard to tell.  "For a second there, you had me wondering what had happened to Mr. Overprotective," she snorts.

"It's impossible to be overprotective with you.  You're a trouble-magnet.  I close my eyes, and all of a sudden, 'INUYASHA!  Pretty please, come save me from this icky monster!  I swear, I didn't mean to be so attractive to demons!'  And then, when I kindly save your ass, 'OSUWARI!!!  I could have done just fine without you.  You're obviously just looking after your gorgeous little shard detector.  In fact, I'm so mad, I'm going to run off by myself and get into **more** trouble, so there!'"

"I've never called myself a 'gorgeous little shard detector.'"

"Keh.  You're changing the subject," he grumbles.

"Is that why you hated Kikyo?  Because she left you alone?"

_Shit, Kagome, you are really on a roll tonight.  What is this, annual Bare My Soul Day?  "Yes."  _Please, God, let that be enough for her.__

She turns to look at him.  _No, Kagome, absolutely not!  I refuse to say anything more about Kikyo.  I don't care if you **do** look beaten and miserable, it won't work.  Nuh uh.  You think those big brown eyes are going to make me turn myself inside out, don't you?  Well, you're **wrong**.  I don't have look you in the eyes – so HAH.  I can just look down your shirt.  WHAT THE HELL?_

"K...k...k...Kagome...I swear, I...I..." he stammers, squirming maniacally as his eyes dart to the sky, to the village, over his shoulders, and to the ground which is so painfully far below him.

"It's still hard to talk about her, isn't it," she murmurs sadly, curling her head against his shoulder.

"Her?"  _Who?  Where?  Hot.  Shit, she's going to "osuwari" me straight to Hell.  Oh, right, Hell._  "You mean Kikyo?"

"Yes," she says slowly, "I mean Kikyo, who left you alone.  Are you feeling alright?"  She tries to look at him again, but he ducks his head to pin her own to his shoulder.  "Yeah, I'm fine, I was just..."  He coughs a few times, then sits up straight (as straight as he can with his head hooked around Kagome's) and schools his face into a serious expression.  "My mother died, and I was alone.  Kikyo was also alone.  We were alone together.  Then she tried to kill me, and I was alone.  Again.  More alone.  Keh.  Right.  So.  Then you woke me up, and now I'm not alone.  Happy?"

"Did you hate her because she betrayed you, or because she left you alone?"

"What?"

"She didn't **mean** to leave you alone – she expected you both to die.  But you stopped hating her once you realized that, right?  She shot you, she practically killed you, but you still love her."

Sigh.  "You still don't get it, do you.  Damn humans use that word too much."

Again, she tries to look him in the eyes; again, he keeps her head against his shoulder.  He tightens his hold on her and cradles the back of her head with one hand, weaving his fingers through her hair.  "Inuyasha?..."

"There are many different things you call 'love.'  That pup loved you, didn't he?"

"Yes..."

"And you loved him."

"Very much," she agrees.

"But you would never have mated with him, right?"

"That's **DISGUSTING!**"

He laughs, perhaps a little bitterly.  "Kikyo would have said the same thing about mating with me."

"That doesn't make sense," Kagome says slowly – Inuyasha is playing with her hair absently, and she's having trouble staying awake – "Youkai was a dog.  He was a completely different species.  Demons may be a different species, too...I haven't quite figured that out, yet...but they at least have humanoid forms.  And you're half human!"

"It wasn't just that I wasn't human.  Kikyo was a miko; she had to remain 'pure.'  She couldn't love one person more than another.  She almost did, but she ended up falling in love with a dream.  Without the Shikon no Tama, she'd be free.  That's what she really wanted.  I was her companion: her comfort.  And she was my kindness: my humanity.  I was, and remain, devoted to that image, just as Youkai was devoted to you."

"And you're going to die for her, just as Youkai died for me?"

"I'm going to save her, just as he saved you."

"There's a difference?"

"Keh.  Maybe."

_He said, "Maybe."  He wants to live?  He'll stay?  "You'd better stay," she mumbles as she turns to nestle her head against the curve of his neck.  "I'd have to hate you if you left me all alone."_

"Hating me wouldn't be that hard for you, Small-Hearted Bitch."

_Oooh__, that does it.  Can't use "Osuwari" up here – he'll drag me down with him and probably break my back.  So, "love" means many things, huh?  Time to make him really squirm._

"I don't know, Inuyasha, I think I'd have trouble hating you.  I do love you, after all."  _Oops, that was **supposed** to sound sarcastic...eheheh...  He'll never get it, right?  Come on, Inuyasha, laugh at me or something.  Move.  Breathe?  Oh my God, I've killed him_.

He pulls her head back and stares into her eyes.  She opens her mouth to say something – "Osuwari" comes to mind – but then he smiles.  _Kagome?__  Who's Kagome?  Not me, that's for sure.  I'm a puddle of goo.  Any second now, I'm going to slip through his arms and plummet to my death.  Goodbye, world, it's been super.  I should probably close my mouth – wouldn't do to die with a fish face.  He moves, and her brain shuts down for what she will later remember as "an infinitely long second" until she realizes that he's kissing her.  _That's what this is, right?  A kiss?  His mouth is touching mine, so that qualifies...I think...oh drat, what am I supposed to do now?__

In a flash of inspiration, she shuts her eyes.  Unfortunately, she also pulls away.  Once she figures out that they're no longer "kissing," she summons the courage to squint at...a hangnail on her index finger.  He looks surprised, then sad, then terrified.  "I didn't mean to!" he whimpers, cringing and pulling his ears flat to his head.

"I'm sorry," she whispers in return, not having internalized what he's said.  "I know that was terrible."

"I just...when you said that you l-loved me, I thought you meant...oh, Kagome, please don't hate me!"

"Can I try again?"

He blinks as he finally realizes that a) he still hasn't been sat, b) Kagome doesn't seem to be angry, and c) she's slowly wrapping her arms around his neck.  While it's **possible that she's about to strangle him...**

She tries to focus – she's trembling so much, she's worried that she'll miss.  Somehow, though, her lips meet his, his hands start doing absolutely marvelous things to her back and hair, and the whole world is buzzing.  Half of her is too emotionally drained to care about the increasing friction between their bodies, while the other half keeps yelling, _WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

Inuyasha, on the other hand, has cheerfully switched off his worry and stress, channeling all conscious thought into his favorite mantra: _MINE ALL MINE ALL MINE ALL MINE...  Which stops, of course, in the horrifying moment that he hears Sesshomaru's voice in his head._

_"Are you really going to mate with that pathetic human?"_

_What the **FUCK?  Sesshomaru, you bastard, where the hell are you?**_

_Sesshomaru__?___

_Hello?_

_Oh, right, he's not telepathic._

"Inuyasha?  Is everything alright?"

For a moment, he's sorely tempted to carry on with the...err...complete, total, and thorough seduction of the woman he loves, desires, and adores.  And whose pajama top has lost a few buttons.  _Oops.  Well, what good is half a shirt?  But she yawns against him as her fatigue finally wins, and his goddamned conscience takes over.  __Keh._

"I think there's someone out there.  Go to sleep; I don't want the bouzu to get any ideas 'cause you look wiped out.  Besides, we're going shard hunting tomorrow."

"Ok," she murmurs uncharacteristically, kissing the side of his neck.  _Lalala__, happysleepywarm.__  "G'night, Inuyasha.  Happy birthday."_

"Keh.  It's **your** birthday, stupid."

"One...year," she whispers as she falls asleep.

_She remembered.  He smiles._

"I love you too, Kagome."

~©~ **The**** End ~©~**

YAAAAAAAAY!!!!  My first mushy story!  Ok, so I can't write fluff.  It doesn't really work.  Can't write lime, either, so I try to scrape by with blunt reality.  Ack.  Please tell me if it's terrible, ok?  I can take it.  Me strong like warrior!  If anyone with talent in that department wants to write a good, romantic/limey offshoot, I wouldn't be offended in the slightest.  (Translation:  If you want to labor for my benefit, I'm all for it.  I'll even write you a nice thank-you note!)

Hope this was an acceptable ending!

Love,

TQ


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